Prof

Thanks Frank. Now I understand a little bit better why you guys on the flat side of the mitt get all excited when you talk about walleye fishing. Fun stuff! We're still working on the boat, but we'll definately be pulling the boat over to try to put to use some of what we learned when we get her set up.

VERY NICE! The best memories often include overcoming some adversity. Great job and wonderful memories. (Nice pictures too.)

Wow! As they say: Priceless!

Ya, how else do you get started with no history? It's just not the same when you read it out of a book. In fact, some of the things I've read about now make sense. Here's a couple of happy lads.

Yesterday my two boys and I hit Saginaw Bay for the first time ever! We chartered with Duncan Wooster who taught us a lot about Walleye. This was a special request of him as we were more interested in coving a number of different presentations rather than just catching fish. It was great fun, we learned a ton and we even caught fish! We left out of the Saginaw River DNR launch site and the day started out with only a mere breeze and the water calm. It was the same for the Walleyes as they also started out a bit slow but the sheephead were active and we even caught a 5+ cat. Finally we started picking up a few small keeper walleye (in addition to a number of undersize) on crawler harness’ and managed to get one 23 incher. Although we tried trolling various crank baits and even spoons, crawlers were the ones taking fish. Later in the afternoon we went over to the north end of the bay and stayed exclusively with cranks in about 20-22 FOW. Hot ‘N Tots of various colors were the only thing working so we switch over to them exclusively and started picking up a few more walleyes between the 2 and 3 lb range. We even picked up a few big perch! There were a number of other boats out there but I think we were the only ones using crank baits as all the other boats were trolling sloowww. We tried to kept it at around 2.1 - 2.3 where we did the best and caught the biggest ones. By the time we headed back, the waves were getting big and we had a bit of a wet ride back to the river. Duncan also showed us a bit of river fishing and we managed to get a couple more. At the end of the day we had our heads full of new information, a limit of nice Walleye with a few bonus perch. Anyway, the boys loved it and are ready to go out again!

Remember a few weeks ago when the President swatted the fly? Whatever one's political affiliation, most people probably thought “good shot!†Well, here’s quote from a subsequent story off the Associated Press: WASHINGTON — The group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants the flyswatter in chief to try taking a more humane attitude the next time he's bedeviled by a fly in the White House. PETA is sending President Barack Obama a Katcha Bug Humane Bug Catcher, a device that allows users to trap a house fly and then release it outside. "We support compassion even for the most curious, smallest and least sympathetic animals," PETA spokesman Bruce Friedrich said Wednesday. "We believe that people, where they can be compassionate, should be, for all animals." Ya can’t help chuckling!!!

Hi Dan, First of all, welcome to the site. I'm pretty new here as well, but I've found the members here to be absolutely great and very helpful. I’m impressed and want to encourage you in your project. Having a vision and then moving to accomplish that vision is one of the greatest feelings that you can have. I’m sure that there will be many who would be interested in receiving regular updates on your progress (keep in mind that we love pictures) and you might even find some advice that you can sift through as well. Jim makes an important point when advising you to go through a thorough inspection of the hull and her rivits. As for your floor, you might want to consider using marine grade plywood as apposed to treated plywood for several reasons. First of all, marine grade plywood, although more expensive in the short run, will likely be not much more expensive in the long run. Here are a couple of reasons why. Marine grade is going to have zero voids and will thus be more ridged then treated which means that you can use a thinner dimension to achieve the same end result. Even if you use the same thickness, marine is going to be lighter – treated is just plain heavy! Remember, that ultimately, your boat has a gross weight capacity and it doesn’t matter how that weight is met. I know that a few pounds here and a few pounds there doesn’t seem like much, but it all adds up. Secondly, marine is going to have a more uniform thickness and will stay that way. Take a look at treated… first, it is likely not fully dried; therefore you will see some change in the nominal dimensions as it continues to dry. Secondly, it is full of holes, dips and, and if looked at closely, will often be wavy. Additionally, some treated plywood will have an adverse affect on, and react negatively to, aluminum. Therefore, as your Starcraft is aluminum, you should consider this possibility as well. Finally, remember that plywood has directional stability. It will be stiffer lengthwise than it will be widthwise, so if you span the longer span with the plywood on the long bias, you will have a stiffer floor – whatever thickness you use. As for the foam, what ever you do, remember that any water should be able to work its way down and towards the back where your bilge pump can do its thing. While poured foam has some advantages, it does tend to restrict movement of water and may soak up water as well. Here is a link to another project that is similar to yours. http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=260400 They did a great job although they used treated plywood which I would not recommend. You can search the same site and get some great information on this same issue and also on any number of other issues as well. Anyway, good luck and be sure to keep us informed and please remember the pictures! John

Yes sir, very nice! Looks like a great summer ahead. Enjoy!

Verrryyy Nice Frank. Do they even stand a chance when you go out?

Most of the time pages load fast and without problem... then all of a sudden one will load reeeaaalll ssllooowww. Then after that no problem... Seems to happen once out of a dozen or so. I thought it was just me, but I don't recall that I've had the same problem with most other sites. I'll try and remember to spend a little time tomorrow at work . I'm in Big Rapids and use Charter Cable - normally pretty fast.

Didn't know that they had slot limits out there. Doesn't matter to much, the price of aluminum is way down! Way to go Frank! It's guys like you that help make the world go round.

Great comments and lots to think about. Especially about the duribility of, and customer service provided by, particular brands. However, while I'm a bells and whistles kind of guy (just come look at my wood shop) I am trying to stretch the buck a bit as I get the boat set up. So, what features do you really use? For some of the mentioned features (tracking friends etc.), wouldn't the other party also have to have a similarly configured radio? Finally, is there a preferred knowledgeable retailer out there that has treated you well? Again, thanks for sharing your insights and experiences.

Hi all, Just got the Sea Nymph back from the doctor and she runs just fine for a 20 year old. (That must be about 90 in people years!). Now I get to deal with the other issues. #1 It looks like the VHF marine radio is not salvageable. Bummer – I’d rather spend money on something that would catch fish! However, as normal, this minor glitch does provide the opportunity to look for something that might be perfect for what I need with better reliability than a 20 year old unit. Here’s the question: I know that good antenna is important, but what features do you really use in a marine radio? Which are essential (safety, etc), which are nice to have and which are just sales hype (never or rarely used)? Of course, brand durability and customer service is an important consideration. Finally, the best bang for the buck is always dear to my heart… er… wallet. As always, I look forward to hearing your frank and learned advice. Thanks in advance.

Outstanding! You’re a smart man Nick… letting her show up the boys! That’s a bigger fish than any that were caught on your boat the day before during the tournament. You’ll have to draft her for the next tournament – nobody else would stand a chance! Way to go Shelley!!

Hey Nick, Thanks again for Saturday. The boys and I had a great time fishing and of course, the rest of the weekend … well, what more could one ask for? Good fishing, good company, good food and a couple of beers – just about a perfect weekend. Ruth and Amanda had a great time also - it was great spending some time with you and Shelley. Even the dogs got along!! And yes, I'm the one that lost the BIG one. Levi is still smiling. Gabe keeps saying "That was the best fishing trip ever!"

If I remember correctly, '97 should be much the same as 2000 and 2003. It's when Microsoft went to 2007 that the look really changed. The functionality is pretty much the same, but you have to look in different places. It was like learning a new program! Hope you figure it out... it's really a nice log!

WoW! Verry Verrrry Nice!

It might depend on what version of WORD that you are using but if you have 2000 or 2003 you won’t have to turn the paper sideways, let the computer do the work for you. Try this: Open your document in WORD Click on “File†In the drop down menu, click on “Page Setup†In the middle of the pop-up menu that appears, click on “Landscape†which you will find listed under “Orientation†in the middle of the box. Look down to the lower right hand corner of that same pop-up menu and click on the “OK†button. This will orientate the page lengthwise on the computer, but you may still want to narrow the top and bottom margins in order to get the whole chart onto one page. Have fun!

Wow!! Very nice all.

Very, very nice Nick. We're looking forward to seeing her in real life. I bet she looks even better up close.

Hmmm… if perception can become the new reality, would it help to put three or four on each side of the boat???? Shoot, perhaps with a half a dozen or so, I could go pro!!!! Seriously though, I’d love a couple for the boat and one for the truck. It really is a sharp logo.

The smaller ones would be great for a truck window or even on the boat… for those of us with smaller rigs. However, would you feel comfortable with the sticker on a boat that is carrying “reel†(pun intended) rookies? :grin:

Thanks for the kind words guys. Yes, it was great meeting the both of you and that may be the best part of this site - not only getting to know some of you virtually, but also face to face. Nick has invited us over to the Muskegon tournament on the 23rd so we hope to meet of the group then. In fact, were camping there Friday and Saturday nights so, if anyone else is staying over, I hope you will feel free to say hi - especially if you have a good fish story or two… I’m sure I’ll believe all of them.